


All These Rhythms That You Hide

by major_general



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-06-13
Updated: 2006-06-13
Packaged: 2017-10-29 13:42:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/320536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/major_general/pseuds/major_general
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's easier not to be great and measure these things by your eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All These Rhythms That You Hide

**Author's Note:**

> Jossed 21 June 2006

**Part One: It Begins**

 

Rose Wilson was on a stakeout, sort of. She was tracking down a man. Well, he wasn’t really a man, but he really couldn’t be considered a boy anymore. She had been there for hours, watching, waiting. She knew today would be the day. Today had to be the day. Rose didn’t want to spend another day staring at a dorm and getting nothing out of it except hit on by strange college boys. She’d done this her own way. She didn’t want him to feel that she had intruded, but that she had found him without the sneaky ways that her father and her teammates have. She wanted to find him honestly. So she waited. And she watched. And she hoped no other boys came to hit on her. College boys didn’t seem to get that it was rude to ask a girl with an eye patch if she’d be the Keira Knightley to their Johnny Depp.

He was coming from the dining hall when she saw him. He had a bag stuffed with books over his shoulder and more books in his arms. He was eating an ice cream. And it almost seemed as if he was moving at a deliberately slow pace. She wondered if it was just her expectations or if she really was observing things as they were. Not that it mattered, this wasn’t about finding out his secrets. She went into her best stealth mode and followed him into the dorm.

His room was on the first floor, towards the end of the hall, so it didn’t really require that much of the skills she had learned from Nightwing to tail him. He fumbled with his keys, entered his room and dropped his books on the floor. He was just about to lie down and maybe play some X-Box when he heard a slight knock on his door.

With her arm resting on the door frame above her head, Rose stood in what she deemed to be her most alluring pose. Bart froze with shock when he saw her there.

“I’ve been looking for you for ages,” she said as her arms snaked around his head and her lips closed on his.

It took him a few seconds to register that this was something he (maybe) should be concerned about.

“Rose,” he asked, “what are you doing here?”

“I came to see the only person who believed that I was redeemable.”

“Nightwing?”

“Ok, the only other person. The really cute one.”

Bart blushed, which Rose took as permission to kiss him once again. She kissed him as if she was drawing life from his lips and he saw no reason that he should cut short her supply.

She pushed him back onto his bed and closed the door with her foot. Taking off her shirt, Rose climbed on top of him and bent in for another kiss. There was a reason they had once called him Impulse and try as he might to think things out, sometimes that’s not really possible. He reached up and took off her bra.

 

Rose rubbed the insides of her thighs. She knew he’d been going deliberately slow and now she had the friction burns to prove it. She did her best not to give away the fact that she now knew that he was a big fat liar. Well, not fat. She snuggled into his chest draping one leg across his.

“What are you really doing here?”

“I told you. I wanted to see someone who wanted me to be a Titan.”

He sat up and looked her in the eyes. “I’m not a Titan.”

“Once a Titan, always a Titan. Isn’t that how it goes?”

His fingers casually played with the ends of her hair. “I remember, but I’m not sure I believe it anymore.”

She sat up and looked him straight in the eyes. “You have to,” she said with desperation.

“Why?”

“Because if you don’t, then maybe I shouldn’t be a Titan.”

 

 **Part Two: Suspicion**

 

Rose was definitely up to something. She never should have been allowed on the team. What in the world had Tim been thinking bringing her into the Tower? She was a supervillain! And as if Cassie didn’t need any more proof of it, Ares had been perving on her of late. Now that’s a real warrior. She lives for the fight. She’s beautiful in her rage. You should be more like her. Ewww. But more than that, Rose had been disappearing every Wednesday for a month and a half. She’d leave early and be back late. She was up to something. Probably something that daddy would be proud of. It was up to Cassie to put a stop to it. So she told Tim her plan to follow Rose. He wasn’t completely behind it, but he seemed much too distracted by the basement to fight her on it.

 

The first odd thing was that Rose did not take any weapons with her. The second was that she boarded a plane. The third was that she went to Kansas. When she got to Kansas, she took a bus to a university. She went to the store and bought candy, Vaseline, and lubricant. Then she sat outside a dorm watching the door until a non-descript boy walked out. Rose entered the building. Cassie followed her discreetly. After Rose entered a dorm room, Cassie rethought her plan and went outside to look in through the window.

Inside the room the least probable thing ever was happening, Rose was playing Xbox with Bart. He was winning, but she was laughing. He nudged Rose’s shopping bag and she paused the game to show him what she bought. The candy produced a huge exuberant smile on Bart’s part. He immediately dug into it. Then Rose pulled out the Vaseline with a shy smile. Since when did Rose have a shy smile? Finally she took out the lubricant. He smiled, turned off the game and pulled her in for a kiss. Hera! Rose was sleeping with Bart. Rose had sex with Bart every Wednesday. Cassie felt like she was going to be sick. Bart should not be having sex.

Cassie immediately returned to San Francisco.

“So?” Tim asked in his Robin voice with his blank Robin face.

“She’s not doing anything evil.”

“What’s she doing?”

‘Bart!’ her mind screamed.

“Doesn’t matter,” she said.

 

 **Part Three: Girl Talk**

 

“So, did you enjoy Kansas?”

Cassie’s pen froze on the page.

“Yeah, it’s not really that great a state. I wouldn’t go there, except, well, sex.”

Standing in Wonder Girl’s doorway was Rose, clad pajamas with her hair in pigtails. She held a plastic bag in her right hand and a Zesti in her left. It all just seemed so very wrong. She came into the room and plopped down on the bed.

“And it is great sex. A little chaffing, but great. You ever had great sex, Wondie?”

“I, uh…”

“You must have. You had that big strong boyfriend with the tactile telekinesis. That had to be amazing. Of course you both could fly. Did you ever do it on the ceiling?”

“What are you doing in here?”

Rose put on her best shocked and hurt face. “I’m just doing what girl teammates do, sitting around in pajamas talking about boys.”

Cassie put her pen down and looked her guest straight in the eye. “Who told you that?”

“CosmoGirl.”

“You do not read CosmoGirl.”

Rose reached into the bag and threw a battered copy of the magazine at Cassie.

“Ok, maybe you have read at least one issue.”

“It says in there that girls have pajama parties where they do each others make up and talk about boys. And I saw it in a few movies this week. So in an effort to be a more normal vigilante crime fighting woman, I am hereby electing you, my stalker, to be my sleepover buddy.”

“But you hate me.”

“Kind of.”

“And I’m not really fond of you.”

“I watched this movie with Bart this week where it says that’s the entire point of teenage girl friendships. Come to think of it, every other movie we’ve watched with teenage girls is like that. I can hate you and do your hair.”

“You and Bart watch movies?”

“Yeah. We both feel a little out of the cultural loop. You can’t watch movies at superspeed, so most of what came out before he came from the future is basically unknown to him unless it was in a book or a video game or on Wendy and mom didn’t think we should have a tv.”

“Why?”

“Mom wanted to make sure I only got the right things taught to me.”

“You grew up in a brothel and she was worried about bad influences?”

“Yeah and your mom schtupped a god.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“We weren’t doing the your mom versus my mom thing?”

“No!”

“Oh, ok,” said Rose as she reached into the bag again. “Cookie?”

“They aren’t poisoned or anything, right?”

“I promise. I really like being a Titan and poisoning you is a sure way of getting thrown off the team.”

“You really like being a Titan?”

“Yep, it helps me not get pumped with evil drugs by dear old dad.”

“And you really like Bart?”

“He’s really adorably cute in a sort of clueless genius way.”

“Right. Just so you know if you ever hurt him, I will kill you. And sleepovers need ice cream and scary movies.”

 

 **Part Four: Spring Break**

 

Tired and hungry, Tim came out of the basement trying to figure out what he was doing wrong that he couldn’t clone someone after months of trying. He was so caught up in his own world that he almost missed Bart standing in the middle of the kitchen looking like he was going to bolt at any moment.

“Hey Tim.”

“Bart?”

Tim was trying his best to thin of something suitably Batlike to say when Wonder Girl came in the room, saw Bart, said “Oh!” and immediately ran down the hall.

“What was that about?”

“I don’t know.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I—”

But Bart didn’t answer because the next moment Rose Wilson was wrapped firmly around him and sucking his face like a leech. She let go and smiled. A real smile. A smile that radiated happiness and Bart returned it. Ravager looked at Tim, shrugged, and pulled Bart Allen down the hallway to her room almost knocking the returned Wonder Girl over.

“Cassie?”

“Yes, Tim.”

“What was that about?”

“They’ve been dating for a few months.”

“They have?”

“Yeah. She asked him to come out here while he was on spring break but she wasn’t sure if he would come.”

“How do you know this?”

“Girls talk.”

“Where have I been?”

“Behind door number one. Honestly, you really should work on your Bat-omniscience.”

 

“So, you still on for the Exploratorium later?”

“We could just stay here.”

“We could, but we’d run out of KY jelly pretty fast and then we’d have to leave. Come on, it’s free today.”

“Ok, but then can we go to the Winchester Mystery House? It’s really creepy.”

“You’ve been before, haven’t you?”

“I might have run through once or twice. It’ll be much more fun taking you up the stairs that go nowhere. Because you know, I could just go through the walls.”

“Can.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Ok. You want to play a game or watch a movie or some tv? Oh can we go by the house that they used to film that stupid show that was nowhere near as good as Wendy and was so completely a rip off and if it was supposed to be three sisters why did it work when there really were four? Did the fourth not count or did she count more? Is it something weird with blood? According to Wendy, it’s all about blood. But this show was weird and if they all have three kids will their kids be all special too? And what—”

“Bart.”

“—about how they all have oh so special dads for their kids? Does that mean that the kids are even more special? Cause all the books I’ve read on genetics would make that seem likely and how can you be half an angel if an angel is a dead person? Speaking of which, how can you be half a ghost? That cartoon makes no sense. You’d have to be dead. How come no one on that show ever comments about the afterlife? And how come the ghosts can age and have kids? If they’re dead—”

“Bart. I think Tim’s making himself a man.”

“With blonde hair and a tan? Is he great for relieving his tension?”

“No with black hair and tactile telekinesis.”

“Wait, you think he’s making a Kon? Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“No, why do you think that?”

“When we were, just a few minutes ago, I sort of had an out of body experience.”

“Damn, I’m good.”

“Yes, you are. Anyway, Tim was down in the basement, as usual, and he had all these tubes and computers ad things and giant pictures of Superman and Lex Luthor and the computers kept telling him that Attempt 2,457 failed. Initializing attempt 2,458.”

“You think you saw something real?”

“I do.”

“Maybe I should talk to him about it.”

“Could you?”

“Ok, but then we are totally going through the Tactile Dome.”

 

“Tim?”

Bart knocked again.

“Tim, could you let me into the secret lab because I totally know what you are up to in there and I’m so gonna tell Batman.”

The door opened and Tim pulled Bart inside.

“Oh so you are making a Kon. But you are doing it all wrong. Who ever taught you advanced genetics?”

 

 **Part Five: Meet the Parents**

 

“So am I ever going to meet this secret girlfriend of yours, Bart?” asked Matt Neiblin, college sophomore extraordinaire. “Or is she just going to keep coming around while I’m at class?”

Bart kicked a rock on the wooded path. “She likes coming Wednesdays. It’s not her fault that you decided it would be a good idea to have all your classes on one day.”

“Better for drinking. But it’s like she’s purposefully trying to avoid me. You aren’t dating my ex are you?”

“No.”

“Or a really hideously ugly woman who is actually old enough to be your grandma? I keep finding white hair everywhere.”

“She’s got white hair but she’s really hot and oh shit Matt run.”

There was a man with a sword standing in the middle of the path.

“Why should he run, it’s not like he could get away. He doesn’t have your abilities, but then neither do you, isn’t that right?”

“Deathstroke,” said Bart as if the name was the vilest curse he had ever uttered.

“Hello, Bart. I hear you’ve been seeing a lot of my daughter.”

Matt grabbed Bart’s arm. “Are you crazy? Don’t tell me your secret girlfriend is…”

“What are you going to do, Mr. Wilson? Are you going to take out my other knee? I could really use a matching pair of artificial kneecaps.”

“No, I think I need to make you suffer more than that for even thinking about touching my little girl.”

It was over before it even started. As Deathstroke advanced on his prey, Bart started running. He knocked the mercenary to his back and then hogtied him to a tree. Matt was frozen in shock.

“So it appears that you have not lost your speed, Kid Flash. Or should I call you the Flash now?”

 

 **Part Six: Mantle**

 

“I don’t know why I helped him make you,” Bart said to the half grown clone in the glowy green tube. “It’s not like you are really Kon. Just like he was never Superman or Lex Luthor. The world knows I have speed still. So I have to go be the Flash. I’m the fastest man alive. I was hoping I could just be Bart. I’ve never not been ‘the boy who would be the Flash’. I wanted to find out who I was if I wasn’t that. I guess a year and a half has to be good enough. See the thing is, Superboy Prime, he was so obsessed with growing up to be Superman that it made me question whether it’s good to want to grow up to be another person. I shouldn’t want to be the Flash. I should want to be me.”

A voice came from behind him, “Well what if you were Quickie, the fastest man alive.”

“How’d you get down here?”

“Nightwing taught me how to pick Batlocks.”

“Cool. I don’t think Quickie’s a good name though.”

“No? Maybe you’re right,” Rose said with a smirk. “You really are a bit of a cuddler.”

“What else you got?”

“Well, Speedy’s obviously taken.”

“Yeah.”

“Quicksilver.”

“Was Max.”

“Right and we’re going for a brand new name.” She thought about it for a second. “Risk?”

“Was a Titan named Cody.”

“Whoosh?”

“Not really striking fear into the Rogues with that one.”

“If you are going to be fighting the Rogues you might as well be the Flash.”

“But…”

“Look, I got my name from relatives who came before me and weren’t the best people. I’m not them. I’m me. I’m making the Ravager into a hero. There are plenty of people named after other people; being called George Junior never held anyone back.”

“I’m already named after my grandfather.”

“Well now you get to be named after him twice. You aren’t Superboy Prime. You won’t let the legacy get to you. You can’t. You’ll never slow down enough to even worry about it.” She touched his cheek. “Now go out there and kick some ass as only you can. And remember, even if you do go join the JLA now, you are always a Titan. Like me.”


End file.
